This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Transfer cases are used in different constellations. They can be with or without a central differential, with a differential lock or a switchable drive of the second driven axle, with or without a step-down stage. They are installed in the longitudinal direction as a rule. The use of a friction clutch also allows the continuous control of the torque transmitted by it in addition to a gentle clutch engagement. This should work as precisely and as fast as possible.
A generic transfer case is known from WO 01/59331 A1 whose offset drive contains a toothed chain and whose articulated jacks cooperate with a drum-shaped link which is rotatable around an axis arranged transversely to the primary shaft. This is first kinematically unfavorable, not least because the ends of the articulated jacks describe circular paths on the drum-shaped link. Furthermore, the drum-shaped link causes a position of the control drive which unfavorably influences the space requirements of the transfer case, which above all comes into play with a transfer case without a differential and/or an off-road gear stage which has a short constructional length. Finally, the articulated jacks prohibit the design of the offset drive as a wheel drive since they would collide with the shaft of an intermediate gear. A wheel drive comprises a plurality (usually three, but there may also be two or four) mutually meshing gears and has specific advantages with respect to a chain drive.